Executive Compensation at Harvard (2024)

Harvard is a private teaching and research university with an acceptance rate at about 3% of applicants.  Located in Boston, Massachusetts, Harvard has about 25,000 students (both undergraduate and graduate students). The annual tuition, room, board, and fees is about $95,000 which means a 4-year degree is about $380,000.

There are 13 voting members (Fellows) of the governing body, 10 of whom are independent – although 14 are listed on the Form 990:   6 of the 14 (43%) are male while 8 of the 14 (57%) are female.

In 2024, Harvard’s total revenue was $7.7 billion (compared to $6.1 billion in 2023, 9.6 billion in 2022, $9 billion in 2021 and $7 billion in 2020) with the increase over the previous year primarily due to higher investment income.   Income was primarily from 3 sources:  investment income, gains, and royalties ($3.5 billion), contributions, gifts, and grants ($1.7 billion) and tuition, fees, and services  ($2.4 billion).

Expenses were $6.4 billion (not including $400 million in depreciation) with the largest expense reported to be compensation ($3.1 billion).

At year-end, Harvard had $62 billion in net assets – $3 billion more than in 2023 because of $2 billion in unrealized gains on investments and because Harvard spent nearly $1 billion less than they received in 2024. 

On the IRS Form 990 (for the year ending June 30, 2024), Harvard reports $954 million in grants (about 12% of revenue), of which $745 million was awarded to domestic individuals, $170 million to domestic organizations, and $39 million to foreign organizations, governments, and individuals.  All of the grants awarded to individuals were cash grants ($745 million):

• $279 million was awarded to 10,264 graduate students for tuition and and fees (avg of $27,000)
• $251 million was awarded to 4,272 undergraduate  for tuition and fees (avg of $59,000)
• $147 million was awarded to 5,601 graduate students for stipends (avg of $26,000)
• $ 68  million was awarded to 8,861 students for various other reasons (avg of $8,000)

It is unclear why the number of students awarded grants (about 29,000) exceeds the total student population (25,000) with the logical reason being some students received various types of assistance.

Harvard reported having 38,767 employees in 2024 (1,100 more tan in 2023) who received total compensation of $3.1 billion  which equates to an average compensation of $80,000.   6,966 employees received more than $100,000 in compensation with the 26 most highly compensated individuals listed below:

• $3,080,733:  Lawrence S Bacow, President (until 6/2023)
• $1,972,836:  Paul Healy, Faculty
• $1,858,446:  Herman Leonard, Faculty
• $1,369,936:  David J Malan, Faculty
• $1,362,955:  Claudine Gay, President (until 1/2024)
• $1,165,036:  Alan M Garber, Provost (until 1/2024), Interim President
• $1,140,102:  Srikant M Datar, Dean, Faculty of Business
• $1,047,648:  Linda Hill, Faculty
• $1,045,813:  Diane Lopez, Former VP and General Counsel (until 2/2024)
• $1,013,063:  George Q Daley, Dean, Faculty of Medicine
• $  957,201:  Brian Lee, VP for Alumni Affairs and Development
• $  883,622:  John Manning, Interim Provost (as of 3/2024)
• $  832,950:  Meredith Weenick, EVP
• $  647,796:  Paul Andrew, VP, Public Affairs and Communication
• $  644,606:   Marc Goodheart, VP and Secretary
• $  634,102:  Nitin Nohria, Faculty
• $  610,360:  Margaret Newell, VP and Deputy to the President (as of 1/2024)
• $  606,070:  Michael D Smith, Faculty
• $  601,877:  Klara Jelinkova, VP and CIO
• $  596,795:  Manuel Cuevas-Trisan, VP for HR
• $  555,826:  Ritu Kalra, VP for Finance and CFO
• $  525,698:   Sean Caron, VP for Campus Services
• $  509,999:  Thomas J Hollister, VP for Finance and CFO (until 6/2023), Strategic Advisor (utilizes 12/2023)
• $  498,292:  Martha Whitehead, VP for the Harvard Library
• $  332,098:  Hopi Hoekstra, Dean, Faculty of Arts and Science (as of 8/23)
• $  223,691:  Karen Gordon Mills, Fellow, Senior Fellow at HBS

A “*” indicates a portion of compensation came from a related/affiliated organization.

The 26 most highly compensated employees received $25 million in compensation.  17 of the 26 (65%) most highly compensated employees are male while 9of the 26 (35%) are female.

The most highly compensated employee was Lawrence Bascow, who received $3 million in compensation in 2024.

Harvard paid for first class or charter travel, travel for companions, personal services, health or social club dues or initiation fees, and provided housing or a housing allowance, gross up payments or tax indemnification. To read more detail about these expenses and the non-qualified supplemental retirement plan, see the Form 990, Schedule J, Part III, Supplemental Information.

Harvard provided a $1 million loan to Drew Gilpin Faust , the former President, for the construction of a home. The balance due is $814,000. The loan was not listed on the Form 990 (2023 for the year 2024)

Harvard provided a $1 million loan to Michael Smith, a former key employee, for the purchase of a home. The balance due is $724,000.

Harvard provided a $800,o00 loan to Manuel Cuevas-Trisan, an officer for the purchase of a home.  The balance due is $752,000.  In addition, Harvard provided Manuel Cuevas-Trisan a $600,000 loan for a bridge loan. The balance appears to be $0.

Harvard provided a $786,000 loan to Srikant Datar, a key employee for dependent education. The balance due is $29,000 (Note:  this disclosure did not appear on the Form 990, Schedule J in 2021).  This loa was not listed on the Form 990 (2023 for the year 2024)

Harvard provided a $350,000 loan to Claudine Gay, a key employee, to purchase a home. The balance due is $207,000.

Harvard provided a $583,369 loan to John Manning, a key employee, to purchase a home. The balance due is $393,000. In addition, Harvard provided a $360,975 loan to John Manning for a dependent’s education. The balance due is $302,000.

Amy Edmondson, a family member of George Daley, a key employee, received $783,243 as compensation for employment (note: Amy Edmondson is not listed in the above as one of the highly compensated employees).

To read the IRS Form 990 (for the year ending June 30, 2024), click here.